Raccoon Found Rabid

Bitten Boy Receives Shots

An 11-year-old boy began a series of six rabies shots and a Rottweiler was ordered killed yesterday, both victims in the latest case of a rabid animal in center city Allentown.

Allentown Health Director Gary Gurian said he received confirmation Wednesday that a raccoon that bit the child and dog Monday night was rabid.

The raccoon reportedly was being chased from the area of Washington and Greenleaf streets to Jordan Park by children who didn't want to see it get hurt. The boy was bitten on the hand, according to his mother, when the "bandit" jumped on a fence.

The raccoon was later killed in a fight with the dog in the 700 block of Washington Street.

Because the rabies virus is spread through saliva, health officials advised the boy to begin a series of six inoculations, given over four weeks.

The dog, which was bitten near the nose, was ordered killed, according to city officials, because it did not have an up-to-date immunization.

"This is one decision I have to make that is real difficult," Gurian said. "A pet is like a part of the family."

Allentown, unlike some other municipalities, gives pet owners only two choices if their unprotected dog or cat is exposed to rabies: put the animal in isolation under veterinary supervision for six months or have them destroyed.

Such tragedies could be prevented, Gurian said, if people would get their dogs and cats immunized. "It is the best protection anyone can take against the raging rabies epidemic," he said.